Let the Shepherd Lead

Intro

• Have you ever felt forsaken? 

• Truly I can only ever think of two times in my life where I genuinely felt forsaken.
  • One happened before I was ten.
    • Union’s Carnegie Library held a children’s program for which my Mom dropped me off.
    • It was not unusual for those programs to end early and Mama not to be back from running errands.
    • That happened so often, Mama had given instructions to pick a few books from the children’s section to check out.
    • So, on that day, I picked out books, checked out books and Mama still was not there.
    • These were the days before cellphones. I asked to used the phone and called all the numbers I knew by heart – my house and my Grams’ home.
    • No answers. For what seemed like an eternity I sat with my books on one benches feeling forsaken.
  • The second occurred in college.
    • For the first semester of my college, I really only went home to wash clothes and avoided going to church.
    • After trying to make friends with people in my theatre department, I was asked to go out with them on a Thursday night, party night.
    • I was thrilled, but quickly realized after the second place that we went that I had been brought along as a designated driver.
    • As we went from place to place that night, and my so-called friends became less and less sober I felt used and forsaken.

Hook:

• Feeling forsaken comes as a terrible shock, proceeds to paralyze us with uncertainty, and settles into a hungry fear.
• It might be that some of us feel forsaken by the frailty of our bodies and circumstances during this time of the COVID-19 crisis, especially as we watch near non-stop coverage of confirmed cases and mounting death tolls.
• When we feel forsaken, our faith may be rattled or near broken.
• In those moments we need simple word’s of reassurance like that prayer I listed from the Children’s book God, I’ve Got to Talk to You Again.
  • “There are lost of questions, God, I don’t have answers to;
  • So, help me always to believe and put my trust in You.
  • I know You know the answers, Lord; and Lord, I know you care.
  • So, that is why I never doubt You hear my every prayer.”
• And Jesus, upon the cross forsaken by all, needed and spoke a word of assurance for us all.

Message Points:

• Friends, this is the middle message in our series about Jesus’ last words.
  • By this point, Jesus has already hung on the cross, suffering in anguish for three hours.
  • Mocking and insults have continued though perhaps the gruesome sight of crucifixion has given the bystanders some pause.
  • By his point the most religious among them would have gone to the Temple for afternoon prayers, anticipating the long process of crucifixion
  • Those closest to Jesus stand nearby, in stunned disbelief and a sorrow that cannot be described or satisfied with tears.
  • Even as we read and reflect on His crucifixion it may feel morbid or gruesome, but by his death we have hope.
• Here our text picks up in Matthew and in Mark to tell us that at noonday, when the sun would be at its strongest, everything became dark.
  • The darkness was God’s supernatural way to indicate uncertainty.
    • Lest we assume this is a cloud or even an eclipse the Bible uses the phrase “came over all the land” to indicate the supernatural source of this darkness.
    • Since Jesus’ crucifixion occurred at the Passover, a feast connected to the lunar calendar, the moon would be full.
    • This could not be an eclipse since solar eclipses do not occur when the moon is full but when the moon is new.
    • In Luke’s gospel 23:45 tells us that “the sun stopped shinning” which most naturally refers to the entire day-side of the earth receiving no light.
    • This proves a mystery, but that seems to be the point. This uncertainty is meant to provoke our attention.
  • The darkness further indicates a change in the disposition of our supernatural God.
    • Darkness is seen in connection to sin and to Judgement.
      • Our God is identified with light, and in fact that is His first words “let there be light” and John’s description of Him.
      • At the beginning of His ministry in Matthew 4:16 Jesus quotes Isaiah to say “the people who sat in darkness have seen a great light”. Jesus came in order to combat the darkness of sin.
      • In the prophetic lesson given in chapter 24, Jesus assures his followers that the time of tribulation and judgement will be a time when the sun will be darkened. He likely drew from Joel 2:31, 3:14; Isaiah 5:30, 13:9 among others. When God judges the earth, His light will be replaced with his dark wrath.
    • In a real way, this darkness also indicates the change in the Father’s relationship with the Son.
      • This change does not occur because the Father does not want to save humanity and the Son’s willingness to sacrifice Himself convinces Him.
      • This change does not occur because the Father somehow forces and exacts a payment for sin upon an unwilling Son.
      • John Stott says, “The Father did not lay on the Son an ordeal he was reluctant to bear, nor did the Son extract from the Father a salvation he was reluctant to bestow”.
      • The Trinity long before creation began decided that this darkness was necessary. The Father devised it, the Son endured it, and the Spirit accomplished it.
      • Isaiah 53 tells us the Messiah would be “stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted” but also that “it was the will of the Lord to crush Him”.
      • There was no separation among the Trinity in these moments, but there was a change in relationship. (PINK, 78)
        • It was not a change in Humanity’s relationships.
          • From the Fall forward, humanity rebelled against God.
          • In general Humanity would like nothing more than to kill God, which is the cry of Nietzsche when he proclaimed “God is dead”.
        • It was not a change in Satan’s relationships.
          • Satan has always sought to steal, kill, and destroy.
          • Here at the cross he leveled his best effort to bruise the seed of Eve, and forever end the possibility of humanity’s redemption.
        • It was not a change in the Son’s relationship.
          • Jesus still willingly agreed with the plan of the Father, though he prayed and asked that the cup pass from Him in the garden.
          • The joy of untold numbers of sinners redemption set before him allowed him to endure the cross.
        • It was a change in the relationship of the Father that occurred.
          • The darkness indicated that God had stepped out of His role as Father, and now stepped into His role as Judge.
          • The same Hell with which God justly punishes sin in eternity is the hellish wrath God brought to the cross.
          • Hell is known to be dark, tortuous, and God-forsaken.
          • Instead of Jesus enjoying fellowship with the Father; for the first time, due to the sin of mankind, Jesus experienced the full wrath of God.
• This brings us to the first point of our message: Uncertainty and Change demand words of assurance. (27:45)
  • Friends, here is the stark and strangely comforting truth about the cross of our Lord.
    • In the shadow of the cross our ordinary fears, anxieties, or woes should shrink.
      • Homeschooling our children as tortuous as it might be pale in comparison.
      • The lonely abandonment of quarantine, especially in this wonderfully technological era, cannot compare to being forsaken.
      • The real threat of COVID-19 and its effects are insignificant in the light of the real, true, wrath of God against sin.
    • At the same time, that stark truth should highlight for us the real uncertainty and change that we face.
      • We do not know when the curtain will be draw upon our time on this earth.
        • None of us are promised tomorrow.
        • And we will not have a “touched by an angel” moment just before we enter into death and judgement.
        • The uncertainty of our days should lead us to strive for and seek assurance.
      • We also know that upon our death, there will be a change in our relationship.
        • Even if the atheist is correct and we enter into a state of nothingness, our relationships will change.
        • For those of us who believe that there is an afterlife, we all want to think we will enter heaven, but no doubt at death our relationships will change.
        • The certain change that death brings should lead us to strive for assurance.
      • But foremost, as A.W. Pink says, “if God poured out His wrath on Christ while he hung as surety for His people, be assured that He will most certainly pour out His wrath on you if you die in your sins.”
        • At the cross, there is no uncertainty about God’s holiness.
          • God can not tolerate sin, even borne by His Son.
          • The holiness of God demands that he punish all sin, or else he would not be a holy, perfect and good God.
        • At the cross, there is no uncertainty about mankind’s sins. (Lutzer)
          • The first sin was a kind of suicide, by which Adam and Eve chose the fruit over their own lives.
          • The second sin was a kind of fratricide, by which Cain took his brothers life.
          • Sin’s consequence is always death, but on the cross we see its extreme as mankind’s sin attempts “Theo – cide” or the killing of God.
          • The darkness of that day indicates that there is no difference between the respectable sins including ungodliness, anxiety ,discontentment, pride, selfishness, impatience, anger, envy, foul mouths, and worldliness (Jerry Bridges) and the heinous sins of child abuse, adultery, sexual abuse, grand theft, murder, and genocide.
          • Stott says, “our sins blotted out the sunshine of the Father’s face”.
          • On the cross we see that our real problem is SIN and SIN always leads to the darkness, separation, and torture of death.
        • But at the cross, there is also no doubt that God wants to change this relationship.
          • Romans 5:8 tells us that God demonstrates his love for us in that while we were still sinners Christ died for us.
          • On the cross, Jesus desired to assure those who would see the darkness and turn to God that He hung there to provide a way of salvation for them.
• This leads us to the famous cry of this passage, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani”.
  • Here Jesus quotes in Aramaic Psalm 22:1
  • He does that on purpose, in hopes that the Jews will remember this psalm.
    • It is a Messianic psalm, uttering a lament of faith.
    • Laments utter an ache of the soul (Mark Vroegop SEBTS CHAPEL Psalm 55).
    • In fact take just a moment and write on the side of your page vertically (up and down) the word ache. Laments…
      • Appeal to God
      • Complain
      • Hope in Promises
      • Expect help
    • That is why Jesus utters Psalm 22:1. The verse and the psalm perfectly express the suffering he endured upon the cross.
      • Jews sang this psalm to identify with the oppression and suffering the righteous would endure.
      • In every way Jesus had to take on our suffering in order for redemption to occur.
        • He had to physically die so that we might physically be raised to new life.
        • He had to spiritually be forsaken so that we might enjoy fellowship with God.
      • Yet Jesus more fully than any of us ever could experienced the truth of this Psalm.
        • He fully drank the cup of God’s wrath for which He had sweat drops of blood in prayers of preparation.
        • Deuteronomy 21:23 tells us “cursed is the man who is hanged on a tree.”
        • Lamentation 1:12 tells us “see if there be any sorrow like unto my sorrow, which is done to me, wherewith the Lord hat afflicted me in the day of his fierce anger.”
        • Nahum says in 1:6 “Who can stand before his indignation? Who can endure the heat of his anger? His wrath is poured out like fire, and the rocks are broken into pieces by him.”
        • Jesus was the only man who could withstand the indignation of God against sin; because only Jesus stood as God in the flesh.
• This brings us to our second point this morning: Only God’s Word truly assures (27:46).
  • Do you feel forsaken friends?
  • Be assured that you too can utter the lament of Christ and know the assurance that it brings.
  • Take some time this week and read through all of Psalm 22 as a devotion and meditation to prepare you for Holy Week.
  • This psalm must have been a meditation Jesus often considered as he prepared for the cross.
  • Notice the importance of Jesus faith in quoting that first part of 22:1.
    • My God, My God – Appeal
      • Jesus understood his relationship had changed. His Father now related to him as a Judge.
      • And yet Jesus still appeals to God as “my God”.
      • Just as any penitent sinner who prays the sinner’s prayer, Jesus comes believing that God’s love opens his ears to those who seek Him.
      • Hebrews six says, “without faith it is impossible to please Him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.
      • Even though Jesus cannot hear God answer, He cries out by faith in the same way that the Israelites by faith took the blood of the lamb that first Passover and spread it over the doorpost to seek God’s salvation.
      • God’s Word tells us that no matter how far sin has driven us from God, we can still seek Him.
    • Why? – Complaint
      • Jesus cries out as one who is a worm, scorned despised, mocked.
      • He knows his blood is pouring out like water.
      • His bones are out of joint as they stretched him upon that cross.
      • His heart and lungs with the sack of fluid around it continues to grow making it harder for him to breathe.
      • He is surrounded by Gentiles who pierce his hands and feet, gloat, and cast lots for his garments.
    • Have you – Hope
      • Here we see Jesus’ hope mingled in this question.
      • It is as not surprising to Jesus that the Gentiles, or the Jewish leaders, or even his disciples have forsaken him.
      • It is most painful that His Father has forsaken him.
      • And yet, Pink says this is a “cry of distress, but not of distrust.”
      • If we read all of Psalm 22 it helps us to see that Jesus had assurance on his mind.
        • Verses 19-21 of that Psalm lay out Jesus’ hope in god’s salvation.
        • Verses 22-24 relate Jesus’ willingness to declare God’s name and his praise. Verse 24 especially says, “For He has not despised or scored the suffering of the afflicted one; he has not hidden his face from him but has listened to his cry for help.”
      • Jesus knew and hoped in the whole plan of redemption. He found assurance even in the cross because in “its dreadful severity, it was a suffering by design” (Piper).
      • By quoting Psalm 22 Jesus assures us and himself that God’s relating to us with Judgement is temporary so long as we receive the gift of His suffering on the cross.
    • Forsaken Me – Expect
      • The answer to why God forsook his relationship with Jesus is a mystery that now has been solved through the text of Psalm 22.
      • Read over verses 22:27-31. There we read that the people of earth will turn to the Lord, and proclaim his righteousness and ability to save.
        • But most curious it tells us in verse 22:29 while promising a time of feasting and worship says that “all wo go to the dust will kneel before him – those who cannot keep themselves alive”
        • Jesus knew he would taste death.
        • In order to accomplish the plan of God he could not avoid it.
        • In his own power he could not keep himself alive.
        • Yet by faith he expected that even though He died and went to the dust, God would raise Him up.
      • God forsook Jesus temporarily so that we might all be resurrected into and eternal fellowship with God.
• This friends leads us to our third point that we see demonstrated in Matthew 27:47-49. We cannot settle for temporary assurance.
  • As clear as it should have been to people on that day with the darkness and Jesus’ obvious quote; those present still missed the point of the cross.
  • They settled for their temporary assurances.
    • Some of them assumed he was crying out for Elijah.
      • Tradition tells us that the rabbis would call out for Elijah to help them in the same way that he had never died but rode a chariot to Heaven.
      • This first reference to Elijah is probably from those who mocked Jewish tradition.
      • Tradition is a temporary assurance. It cannot really satisfy our need.
      • Even this Holy week our traditions are all out the window.
      •  But do not think for one moment that our assurance that Jesus died to pay for our sin and rose that we might have eternal life is in doubt.
    • Another person filled a sponge with wine vinegar to ease Jesus’ pain.
      • Wine vinegar was used by day laborers in Jesus’ time to quench their thirst so that they could get back to work.
      • Sometimes pennyroyal or mint would be stored in vinegar and used to revive those who had fainted.
      •  This medicinal assistance would in actuality only prolong his suffering.
      • Friends our truest hope and surest comfort does not come from prolonging our lives or easing our suffering.
      • With the apostle Paul in the face of COVID and every other trial we should procalim, “for me to live is Christ and TO DIE IS GAIN.”
    • Finally we read of others saying that they should leave him alone and watch for Elijah to come to save him.
      • This second reference to Elijah is probably from real believers in God.
      • They were hoping for a miracle to interrupt the agony and pain of the cross.
      • Most miracles, while real, provide us with only a temporary assurance.
      • But the miracle of the cross and the resurrection provide an eternal assurance.

Conclusion:

• There is no substitute for Christ when it comes to assurance.
• It is impossible as Hebrews 6:4 says for people to have…
  • more enlightenment than is offered in Christ.
  • a sweeter taste of the Heavenly gift than is offered by Jesus.
  • a greater share of the Holy Spirit than trusting in Christ’s sacrifice affords
  • Or a greater display of the Word of God’s goodness and power than we see as Jesus cries out from the cross “My God, My God why have you forsaken me.”
• So I ask us again, do we feel forsaken?
  • Have our families left us?
  • Have our friends used and ostracized us?
  • Has our government failed us?
  • Have our own bodies shown their frailty?
• We have but one assurance, and his name is Jesus Christ. Turn to Him and have eternal life.